Decision Maker: Council

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: December 10, 2024

Purpose:

Content: Under Council Standing Order 9.1.2 a further vote was taken at the start of the meeting to re-order the business on the agenda to move Motion 12.8 (Tackling the epidemic of violence against women and girls) to the start of the Notices of Motions item.   Resolved –   That under Council Standing Order 9.1.2 Motion 12.8 (Tackling the Epidemic of Violence against women and girls) be moved to be the first motion to be considered under the motions item on the agenda.     12.8   TACKLING THE EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE AGAINST            WOMEN AND GIRLS   As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.8 was moved by Councillor Kamran Hussain and seconded by Councillor Hinchcliffe.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment N) was moved by Councillor Falak Ahmed and seconded  by Councillor Coates.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers Amendment O) was moved by Councillor Edwards and seconded  by Councillor Sutcliffe.   Following a number of speakers in accordance with Council Standing Order 18.12 the following Amendments and Motion, were put to the vote.   Amendment “O” was put to the vote and lost.   Amendment “N” was put to the vote and lost.   Motion 12.8 as set out below was put to the vote and was carried.   Resolved-   Council notes:   Our wholehearted support for the victims and survivors of violence against women and girls from our district. As members of council we stand alongside them and remember those who have been killed and are missed so much by their loved ones.   Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for Bradford Council and for West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, who has put it at the heart of the West Yorkshire Crime Plan and set up a Women's Safety Unit with representatives from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the county's Violence Reduction Partnership and West Yorkshire Police.   The welcome work by campaigners, councillors and MPs across political parties to tackle this issue and the commitment from the new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper that this government will treat violence against women and girls as “the national emergency it really is” as part of the government’s aim to cut violence against women and girls by half in the next decade.   WYCA’s work in partnership with the council to tackle the issue, including the introduction of a team of PCSOs patrolling bus stations and buses across the region to support safer travel, and the work to make parks and green spaces safer and more accessible for women and girls.   The work of our district’s MPs to make women’s lives safer, such as the long campaign by Judith Cummins MP to make spiking one specific criminal offence.   The acknowledgement by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) that there is an epidemic of violence against women and girls and it is a national emergency. That abuse against women and girls is deep-rooted in gender inequality and unconscious bias which have developed over generations. It occurs everywhere irrespective of age, class, ethnicity, faith, sexuality or where someone lives.   The important work to date of our youth services, schools and other agencies to tackle misogyny and misinformation around issues such as consent.   The efforts of hospitality and other businesses alongside the council and other agencies to make night times safer, including the work underway to achieve Purple Flag status and similar initiatives across the district such as Ask Angela.   The launch of the Safety of Women and Girls (SOWG) Plan in August which sets out how Bradford Council, the police and partner organisations will strive to make the district safer for women and girls, combat misogyny and challenge harmful attitudes.   The best way to eradicate Violence Against Women and Girls is to work upstream increasing early intervention and prevention and education opportunities thereby reducing future violence against women and girls.   16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that ran from 25 November – the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – until 10 December. During this period, Bradford Council's Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence team organised engaging and informative sessions for professionals across our district, including several 'An Audience with' sessions promoting services and increasing awareness around domestic abuse and sexual violence (DASV), Active Bystander training, workshops around children as victims in their own right and the launch of the new sexual violence and abuse training module.   The commissioned service for DASV in Bradford is the Survive and Thrive consortium, combining Staying Put, Family Action, and Women Centre.   Council resolves to:   ·   Consistently support the police to reduce the incidents of all violence against women and girls using council processes to support holding perpetrators to account. ·   Back Mayor Tracy Brabin and Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Alison Lowe by making Bradford a strong partner in the West Yorkshire plan to tackle violence against women and girls, especially through our commissioned services to support and empower victims and survivors. ·   Give full council support to delivering a strong action plan rooted in the newly launched Safety of Women and Girls Plan, for example, in new programmes to engage men and boys as part of the solution. ·   Ask Safer Bradford Partnership to pilot new and innovative ways of working. ·   Task partners to ensure that the newly commissioned Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence services continue to achieve positive results in supporting victims/survivors and expand the excellent work that is reducing reoffending. To be actioned by: Council and Chief Executive/Strategic Directors   12.2    MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE   As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.2 (incorporating additional published papers Amendment E as consented to by Councillor Griffiths) was moved by Councillor Russell and seconded by Councillor Ros Brown.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment C) was moved by Councillor Poulsen and seconded  by Councillor Coates.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers Amendment D) was moved by Councillor Duffy and seconded  by Councillor Ferriby.   Following a number of speakers in accordance with Council Standing Order 18.12 Amendment D as set out below was then put to the vote, was carried and became the substantive motion, was then voted on and was carried.     Resolved –   That with the addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion be amended to read as follows:           Council notes:   ·         There is a national crisis in children’s mental health. The reasons for this appear to be complex and varied with contributing factors likely to include poverty and austerity, which have increased pressures on families and public services, and the impact of the pandemic on children’s lives. ·         Locally we have a comprehensive partnership approach to address this challenge and support good mental health. ·         Mental health problems can affect a child of any background. ·         Prevention and early help is crucial for supporting good mental health and addressing any concerns before they escalate into crisis. ·         The district’s Health & Wellbeing Board is the senior strategic partnership for improving health, tackling health inequalities and addressing the wider determinants of health.  Whilst this is a national issue, locally we have prioritised children’s mental health and the Health & Wellbeing Board has been doing focussed work on this subject for many months. ·         The voluntary and community sector (VCS) and our youth services also carry out a range of beneficial activities to support children’s and young people’s wellbeing. ·         There is a large number of different projects being funded to support children’s mental health in our district through the council, NHS and the Children and Families Trust through the nationally adopted Thrive framework. To name just a few: -          The Public Health Nursing Children’s service -          The Emotionally Based School Avoidance Project -          Mental Health Champions -          My Happy Mind in primary schools -          Baby Steps antenatal and postnatal parenting programme -          Dad Matters advice for male parents and carers -          Hospital Buddies -          Know Your Mind Plus one-to-one sessions -          Youth Service support for schools -          Youth Groups -          Peer Support for LGBTQ+ -          Breaking the Cycle ·         A number of teams in the council directly support children both with and without a medical diagnosis, including: a dedicated Social, Emotional & Mental Health team within the Specialist Teaching & Advisory Support Service; the Virtual School for children looked after and children with a social worker; the specialist inclusion team; the Educational Psychology Service; and the Emotionally Based School Avoidance Team who work with children severely absent from school due to high levels of anxiety. ·         Much of the council’s work also indirectly supports the mental wellbeing of children, such as our housing services, our parks and green spaces, museums, libraries and galleries, our sport and leisure services and our public health initiatives. ·         In the past 12 months we have created a directory of all the services that schools can access via Bradford Schools Online to support their students’ mental health.   Council resolves to:   ·         Task officers to work with health partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board to ensure children’s mental health support remains a top priority. ·         Ask the Health and Wellbeing Board to ensure the three bodies of the council, the NHS and the Children and Families Trust work in a coordinated way to get the best services for children and best value for money. ·         Ask Public Health officers to continue rolling out the Living Well schools programme. ·         Ask health partners to provide an update to the Health and Wellbeing Board on its comprehensive work to ensure timely access to CAMHS services for every child who needs it. ·         Write to relevant Ministers highlighting the proactive work happening in Bradford, examples of good practice and how we might work with Government to be part of resolving this issue nationally. To be actioned by: All Strategic Directors and Interim Director of Public Health   12.3    MOTION – CAR PARKS   As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.3 was moved by Councillor Griffiths and seconded by Councillor Naylor.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment F) was moved by Councillor Poulsen and seconded  by Councillor Loy.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers Amendment G) was moved by Councillor Ross-Shaw and seconded  by Councillor Kamran Hussain.   Following a number of speakers in accordance with Council Standing Order 18.12 Amendment G as set out below was then put to the vote, was carried and became the substantive motion, was then voted on and was carried.     Resolved-   That with the addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion be amended to read as follows:     Council notes:   ·         Free parking in car parks has been steadily phased out across the district for a number of years. As car parks incur business rates, there is technically no such thing as a ‘free’ car park, as the costs are borne by the Council and subsidised through general budgets   ·         The policy of austerity implemented by the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives when in government has had far reaching consequences for councils, ultimately leading to the current financial crisis engulfing local government across the country and forcing many difficult decisions to help balance the books   ·         Most council car parks in urban centres already charge and have done without issue for many years, including Saltaire, Haworth, Bingley, Baildon, Silsden, Shipley, Keighley and Wilsden   ·         Equalisation of car parking charges was introduced as part of the Budget passed in February 2024 and fully implemented from September 2024, extending this approach to Wibsey, Idle, Addingham and Steeton   ·         As with all parking pricing and restrictions, policy is kept under regular review     Council believes:   ·         Parking charges are never popular but it is vital the council is able to balance the books and continue to provide vital services we all rely on and do so in a way that is as fair and equitable as possible   ·         Idle is a thriving community with a number of strong and growing businesses and a larger number of free on-street parking spaces than many other urban centres across the district   ·         The success of the recent Christmas light switch-on, where the car park was closed for fairground rides, attracted hundreds of visitors to Idle     Council resolves to:   ·         To continue to monitor the new parking charges where implemented across the district, which currently have less than a single month’s of income to assess due to the lag in collecting and assessing the data.   ·         Support our urban centres across the district through our Invest in Bradford economic development team, who are ready to help businesses plan and grow for the future.   To be actioned by:  Strategic Director Place   12.4      MISMANAGED DECLINE     As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.4 was moved by Councillor Pollard and seconded by Councillor Felstead.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment H) was moved by Councillor Hinchcliffe and seconded  by Councillor Imran Khan.   Following a number of speakers in accordance with Council Standing Order 18.12 Amendment H as set out below was then put to the vote, was carried and became the substantive motion, was then voted on and was carried.     Resolved-   That with the addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion be amended to read as follows:   Council notes:   ·         The austerity policies of the Conservative and Conservative-Liberal Democrat governments since 2010 have been disastrous for the country.   ·         The fall in living standards felt by ordinary people as a result of the failed economic policies of the Conservative and Conservative-Liberal Democrat governments was unprecedented.   ·         Not only are people worse off, but so are the public services they depend on.   ·         The people of the country voted decisively at the general election to bring an end to interminable austerity and decline, and to instead invest in growth, opportunity and the decent public services they rightly expect.   ·         LGA analysis published before the Autumn Budget revealed that English councils face a £2.3 billion funding gap in 2025/26, rising to £3.9 billion in 2026/27 – a £6.2 billion shortfall.   ·         A Treasury audit uncovered a £22 billion black hole in public finances left by the previous government.   ·         The new government is now having to take the decisive action and difficult decisions needed to reset the economy, invest in our public services and drive growth on a national level.   ·         Despite the mismanaged decline seen nationally since 2010, locally we have invested and drawn in substantial outside investment in growth and opportunities to get more good jobs and regeneration.   ·         Our strategy means that we have a transformed city centre while also delivering significant investment and improvements in civic infrastructure, business development and culture in all corners of our district. Bradford is well placed to play a key role in national renewal at the heart of the North.   Council resolves to:   ·         Continue to invest with our partners in growing our local economy to generate new job and leisure opportunities for our residents across the district.   ·         Task the Director of Finance to: take account of the impact of national policies on the council’s budget; ensure that we consider both new responsibilities and opportunities as part of our planning; and publish those details as usual in our public finance reports on an ongoing basis.   To be actioned by: Strategic Director Place and Interim Director of Finance   12.5      SUPPORTING OUR RURAL COMMUNITIES  As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.5 was moved by Councillor Poulsen and seconded by Councillor Herd.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment I) was moved by Councillor Ros Brown and seconded  by Councillor Watson.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers Amendment J) was moved by Councillor Ross-Shaw and seconded  by Councillor Hinchcliffe.   In accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.4  and 18.8  a further amendment (additional published papers Amendment K) was moved by Councillor Griffiths and seconded  by Councillor Naylor.       After the moving and seconding of Motion 12.5 (Supporting our rural communities) and the amendments and hearing a number of speakers the time reached 10pm.  A bell was rung in accordance with Council Standing Order 20.1.  No further discussion was held and the Motion and amendments, in accordance with Council Standing Orders 18.12 and 20.2 were voted on without any further debate.   Amendment K was put to the vote and was lost.   Amendment J as set out below was then put to the vote, was carried and became the substantive motion, was then voted on and was carried.     Resolved-   That with the addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion be amended to read as follows:   Council notes:   ·         Bradford District is two-thirds rural and includes some of the most rural areas of West Yorkshire. ·         Local family run farms provide local produce and work all year round in difficult conditions often with little reward, as, nationally, 17% of farms make no profit at all and a further 59% make less than £50K. ·         We want to support our rural communities.  In conjunction with our partners at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, we have set aside a £2.5 million capital grant fund to support rural micro and small businesses in West Yorkshire called Rural West Yorkshire.  The fund has the following themes: ? ·         Business Development ·         Food Processing ·         Visitor Economy / Tourism Infrastructure   ·         In Rural West Yorkshire focus has been on new and existing small/micro businesses (including social enterprises and charities with a trading arm), with up to 50 employees, to make investments that will facilitate growth, create and/or safeguard employment or positively impact the rural economy. 14 grants have been awarded in the Bradford District totaling £440,104. ·         The new Labour government’s commitment to Britain’s farmers is steadfast in recognition of the fact that food security is national security. The government has committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – the largest budget for sustainable food production in our history. In contrast the Tories left a £300m underspend in their farming budget. ·         The Chancellor Rachel Reeves inherited a budgetary black hole, a low growth national economy and horrendously stretched public services from 14 years of Conservative-led governments, issues which have all had a hugely negative impact on our rural and farming communities, for instance with rural crime up nearly a third since 2011. ·         To address the black hole in public finances and the need to invest more in our public services, the Chancellor announced a range of measures – one of which was changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR). ·         Under the policies left by the last government, more than half of farms and estates sold are going to tax avoiders, non-farmer investors and lifestyle buyers; and a small number of wealthy landowners own a significant proportion of farmland. Up to now they have been receiving 100% relief on their inheritance tax bills. ·         The majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by the changes. The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the actual number of farms affected could be much lower than the official estimates of 500 per year and state that ‘this moves our inheritance tax in the right direction’. The government is simply asking the richest estates and the most valuable farms to pay their share. ·         Under the changes, two people can claim up to £3m tax-free when inheriting a farm. Those above the threshold will have ten years to pay the tax with zero interest incurred.   Council resolves to:   ·         To thank our hard-working farming community across the district for all they do to provide food and in assisting to keep roads open during snowfall.   ·         To work with partners such as the Police, Health and WYCA to ensure rural communities are fully supported and provided with suitable services.   ·         To do all we can across national, regional and local agencies to support our rural economies and promote any support programmes available.   To be actioned by:  Council, Chief Executive and Strategic Directors 12.6       REAFFIRMING BRADFORD’S COMMITMENT AS A CITY OF SANCTUARY AND ENSURING APPROPRIATE SUPPORT FOR  REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS & 12.9    GETTING READY FOR UK CITY OF CULTURE 2025   Resolved –   That under Council Standing Order 9.1.6 Motions 12.6 and 12.9 (above) be withdrawn from the agenda.